Forever Begins Today
by GideonGraystairs
Summary: Really, Magnus's only reason for coming to this wedding in the first place was to ensure two of his admittedly few close friends didn't resent him for the rest of their lives (and, of course, support them in their beautiful, precious, horrifically sappy marriage). The blue-eyed boy across the bar is a nice addition, though.


_**Alright, uploading from Mexico here where I have next to no computer access. Aren't you just so lucky I'm using what access I do have to post fanfics rather than waste time on Tumblr? Anyway, here's another from the 24 Fics in 24 Days Challenge I struggled my way through a while ago. This one has a 70% chance of turning into at least a two-shot, if not more, depending on whether or not you guys actually want me to write more for this. So let me know what you want and I shall do my best to please!**_

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><p>Weddings, Magnus had decided, really weren't his thing. Where he knew he was expected to go off and mingle with all these horribly boring people he had zero interest in or at least head off to congratulate the glowing bride and her equally happy groom, Magnus had elected to spend his evening perched by the bar, gingerly nursing an awful martini he could have concocted much more tastily himself.<p>

Okay, so perhaps he was just a little bitter that he hadn't been asked to fill any of the important roles at the actual ceremony, but still. The reception was truly a terrible sight for him to behold.

What wasn't a terrible sight, however, was the boy who'd eventually sunk onto a stool across the bar from him halfway through the event, glancing nervously around and pulling endlessly at the sleeves of his suit jacket. He couldn't have been more than twenty, at least three years younger than Magnus, and he was quite obviously over nineteen if he could order a drink. Pleased by the knowledge that the most attractive young man there was legal, Magnus grinned before moving down the bar to slide into the seat right beside the dark-haired guest.

"Hey," was his brilliant starter, complete with a significantly less glittery wink than usual and a tantalizing smirk directed as poignantly as possible towards the other man. He was rewarded with the sight of the most brilliant, captivating blue eyes turning towards him to widen in shock as they raked over his exquisite form. Grinning now, Magnus extended a tanned hand towards him. "Magnus Bane."

"Alec Lightwood," the attractive young man provided in return, reaching out to grasp his proffered hand with a contrastingly pale grip and somewhat shy smile.

Nodding towards where Tessa was showing off her new ring with Jem at her side, Magnus inquired, "So, you here for the bride or the groom?"

Alec rubbed the back of his neck, a no doubt unconscious gesture stemming from chronic social awkwardness. Frankly, Magnus found it almost disturbingly adorable. "Neither, really. My friend's mom is here for Tessa and somehow she managed to rope all of us into going with her."

"Why aren't you with her now, then?"

The blue-eyed boy looked decidedly uncomfortable at the question, shifting nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck again. "She, um, she's kind of… preoccupied?" Seeming to realize Magnus had no idea what he was implying, Alec added rather reluctantly, "With my brother. Probably in a closet somewhere." He paused for a second in thought. "Or a bathroom."

Letting out a quiet chuckle, Magnus took a sip of his drink and leant back against the bar, surveying the scene around them. Admittedly, it really wasn't that bad of a setup. There was a fully stocked bar to keep the older guests satisfied and a fair share of wondrous decorations for the younger to be enchanted by, along with a number of tables and chairs for them to play tag around. The room was large and adorned generously with snow white and icy blue decorations, giving off a beautiful winter aura that complemented the attire of the prized couple of the evening quite well. There also happened to be plenty of room to mill about and form loosely knit groups of conversers and a highly attention-grabbing stage sitting forlornly against the right wall, just behind Magnus. Of course, there was no one on it at the moment, but he suspected it had been providing entertainment just before he got here, more than two hours into the reception.

"Which are you here for?" He was drawn out of his musings by the sound of Alec's voice from beside him, curious and polite as he regarded Magnus with intrigue.

"Well, both really. But mainly the bride," he replied easily, smiling over at his new interest in as friendly and comforting a way as he could manage, a mildly desperate attempt to get him to relax. Although, the cosmopolitan the blue-eyed boy was nursing seemed to be helping to do the trick a fair bit itself.

Alec nodded acknowledgingly towards him, turning to scan the mingling crowd with vague disinterest. Magnus, being the romantic he was, couldn't resist flirting with the beautiful boy completely unsubtly. "You're quite gorgeous," he started in carefully. "Did you know that?"

He was rewarded by a frankly adorable blush and a stuttered thank you, which Magnus took as a good sign that the young man was at least mildly interested in him. His musings were further confirmed by the mumbled, "You're, um, really gorgeous too."

Grinning, Magnus reached out to run a gentle finger over Alec's hand and smile brilliantly at the blushing boy. "Why, thank you, darling. I try." And then, considering his next move carefully for a moment, Magnus decided to just go with it. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Alec looked down at the empty glass in his hands with some surprise before nodding shakily, glancing around with a nervous jerk as though checking to make sure this was real. Ordering him another cosmo, a safe choice by the looks of it, Magnus moved to run his hand more firmly over the younger boy's and smirked widely at the even deeper blush he received in return.

By the time the drink was set gingerly before them, accompanied by a knowing grin from the bartender, conversation had managed to strike up between them and flow much more easily from both. There was something intriguing about the dark-haired boy, something that piqued Magnus' interest like no one had managed to do in a very long time. Alec was by far not the type he usually went for, being shy and reserved with seemingly no idea how to respond to Magnus' blatant flirting, but perhaps that was why Magnus found himself so keen on winning him over.

And it wasn't just to get him in bed for a night and then slip out in the early wisps of morning leaking through a curtained window. No, Magnus realized that he didn't even mind so much that he quite obviously wasn't going to get a lay tonight from this boy, even though he was immensely attracted to him physically. He established that he'd rather see him again than have that, rather work his way into getting an actual date than into his pants.

All in all, it was surprisingly fun, a feat Magnus had not thought this reception could ever manage to accomplish, and he found that by the end of it he'd actually managed to have a rather good time. Of course, that was entirely thanks to the beautiful blue-eyed boy now standing awkwardly to leave, glancing down at him and biting his lip in contemplation before reaching across the bar for a napkin.

"Here," Alec said decidedly after another moment, scribbling on the napkin with a shaking hand and a pen the bartender had subtly slid in front of him. Holding it out for Magnus to take, the blush on his face deepened to a nearly unhealthy shade of red before he tried in vain to slither away, only to be blocked off by the growing crowd headed for the door.

Magnus had only to glance down briefly and spot the numbers scrawled across the page before he realized that he'd just been given an in to get a real date from the younger boy. "Thank you, beautiful," he responded silkily, grinning widely at the nervous blue eyes flitting from the floor to his face and back. "I'll be sure to call you."

Alec bit his lip and nodded jerkily with wide, surprised eyes before finally finding an opening in the surging swarm of people and slipping wordlessly away. Watching him go with an odd feeling fluttering through his chest and a pleased smile, Magnus noted the view from the back was just as good as that from the front. Ah yes, he would definitely be seeing him again if he had anything to say about it.

Tucking the number into the pocket of his suit jacket, Magnus stood to leave, still unable to wash the smile off his face. Glancing over at the happy couple still basking in their newlywed status, his grin only grew. Thank God he hadn't decided to forgo the reception entirely like he'd been so tempted to. He would have missed the best thing to ever happen to him.

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><p><em><strong>I thought this was fun to write, though the ending could have probably been better. Let me know what you thought?<strong>_


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